gooseberryhigh | MARATHON WINNERS

The top three runners were:

Clementine Decourt with a time of 0:21:04. She receives a vial of Felix Felicis, good for 24 hours of luck.

Rosemary Stoker with a time of 0:24:28, who at least gets the validation of knowing she outran Sy.

Fern Mufferaw with a time of 0:27:46, who earns an extra dose of fatherly pride from Healer Mufferaw. He's going to be boasting about this for weeks.

Ulysses Quayle with a time of 0:28:32

Casper Kim with a time of 0:29:23

Sylvester Stoker with a time of 0:30:15

Meanwhile, the three worst runners were:

Zachary Zheng who did not complete the marathon, and passed out on the trails. He was discovered by Brother, who scooped him up in his arms and carried him back to the lodge. Zach stirred while being carried, and remembers the scent of pine, and an unearthly voice telling him stories about the creatures that roamed these mountains centuries ago. Keen-minded Zach can probably guess he's talking about the ice age. Healer Mufferaw takes over once they reach the lodge, and assesses that Zach has heat exhaustion. He's made to spend the rest of the afternoon resting and rehydrating.

Riley Stamper with a time of 1:26:50, who was the last one to cross the finish line. Mr. Thorn walked with her the last leg, insisting she can do it! It's just a liiiiittle bit further!!!

Reece Downing with a time of 1:15:49, who was given an enthusiastic round of applause by Mr. Merrill, who them proceeded to dump a bucket of water from the refreshments table over his head like he was the winning athlete at a Muggle sports game.

Balthazar Doyle with a time of 1:10:42

Adeline Foster-Hayes with a time of 1:09:49

Mr. Merrill's just relieved that none of his students actually expired during the marathon, but maybe he should make you all jog more. Hmmmm.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rosy grabs two bottles of water and hands one to Fern. There's also a twenty in that hand. Don't say anything, just walk the other way.

Fern takes the bottle without a word, and the only acknowledgement that she sees the bill is a small nod. "Good run. Congrats," she says, taking a swig from the bottle.

Oh. Oh!!!

When Zach wakes up, he feels a little bit foolish — he's not sure how he managed to fall. Hadn't he been trying to help Riley? And them, in the end, he'd needed help himself. He must've done something silly, he thinks, and maybe he should feel worse about it, but... there was something really... comforting about being carried home. Hearing those old, old stories. The smell of pine.

So instead, Zach mostly just feels... taken care of, and he appreciates it in a way he never would have anticipated. It lights a small fire, warm and bright, somewhere deep inside his chest. He'll spend the afternoon taking small sips of water and wondering how he could return the favour. Ancient moose-creatures probably need a hand too, sometimes.